When a loved one is going through the dying process, many of us tend to try to supply support in the most significant areas. Oddly enough, the dying may experience more stress about the coordination of everyday activities in their absence. Frequently, this is where you can provide the most assistance. 

Practical Jobs Can Make a Big Impact

As a loved one begins the dying the process, you’d imagine various sources of stress. Putting aside the existential, emotional, interpersonal, and spiritual issues that the dying may experience, managing day-to-day activities may be the source of the most uncertainty. Knowing that everything will be appropriately managed in their absence may be one of the most significant causes of relief that they may experience during the dying process. This is where you, a friend or family member of someone in the dying process, can offer immense support. 

Managing the Handling of Affairs

Among the questions the dying have, some of the most profound are the most basic. “Who is going to water my plants?” “Who is going to take care of my husband?” “Who is going to feed my dog?” “Who will pick up the children from karate?” “Who is going to make dinner for my family?” Though you’re likely not the medical professional making significant decisions about your loved one’s hospice or palliative treatment, where you can have a significant positive impact is by managing the day-to-day tasks that the dying person was once responsible for and where now worry. 

Accept Help Where Offered

If you are the primary caretaker of someone going through the dying process, do not feel the need to take on managing the physical and emotional needs of your loved ones in addition to all of the day-to-day activities. Other family members, friends, and community members will likely lend their services. While you may feel that their help will inconvenience them, realize that by allowing them to shoulder some of the day-to-day responsibilities, you are putting their minds at ease about your present state. Just as you may worry about all of the tasks that need to get done, they too worry about your ability to complete these tasks while also providing the emotional support where it is needed. By letting them help, you’re not only helping yourself, but you’re also helping them. 

Let the Professionals Help

When a loved one is going through the dying process, it’s normal to feel the need to do everything you can to ease their discomfort. While the help of family and friends is encouraged, realize your limitations. Understanding that you will also need help as well through this process. There’s no shame in embracing the help of experienced professionals during this time. 

For help in any matters relating to hospice and palliative care, look no further than Cura HPC. Learn more about Cura HPC today.

The dying process can be difficult and confusing not only for the one dying but for loved ones as well. As a loved one, you may not know what you need to be doing in order to make the dying process physically easier. Let’s take a look at areas of physical discomfort that can be managed during the dying process.

Managing Pain

As the body begins to shut down, some patients experience certain amounts of pain. Though not every death is a painful one, it’s completely normal to relieve pain through the use of prescribed medications. A palliative care specialist will know which medications to prescribe and their dosages. If the medications prescribed are not providing any relief, it is important to let your palliative care specialist know this for they can adjust the medications and/or dosages. 

Respiratory Issues

During the dying process, it’s not usual for a patient to experience shortness of breath. This difficulty breathing is called dyspnea and can sometimes cause anxiety. Some means of remedying this is shortness of breath include elevating the head, opening windows to increase the flow of fresh air, the use of a humidifier or a fan to move still air in the room. Some doctors may administer morphine or medicines that help to limit the feeling of breathlessness. As death nears, breathing may become very loud and labored. Though this can be quite startling to loved ones, it usually does not upset the patient. 

Digestive Issues

Towards the end of life, digestive problems such as nausea, constipation, loss of appetite, or vomiting are common. Though they mostly stem from the natural process of the body shutting down and energy being rerouted to life-sustaining organs in the body, some can be treated. It is important to speak to a nurse or other medical professional about these in order to ease discomfort. While a dying person may require help to eat if they desire to do so, do not have them eat if they do not want to. There is a certain point where eating may cause great discomfort or nausea, so do not be disturbed if the patient gives up food or drink almost completely.

Skin Issues

Skin can become unusually dry on the face, eyes, and lips before death. Lip balm, moist cloths, and alcohol-free lotions can help to soothe the skin. Offering ice chips and wiping the inside of the mouth with a damp cloth can help relieve dryness in the mouth. Sitting in one position for an extended period of time can cause bedsores, so it is important to change positions from time to time. Harder services such as railings can irritate elbows, hands, and feet, making foam padding a source of comfort. 

Though you may feel helpless to prevent the death of a loved one, helping them remain comfortable throughout the dying process can make all the difference — for the dying person and loved ones alike. 

If you’d like to learn more about palliative care and hospice services in Tulsa, OK, you’re invited to learn more about Cura HPC. 

Learn more and connect with Cura HPC Palliative & Hospice Care Services in Tulsa, OK today.

The full scope of care for someone who is dying would be incomplete without caring for one’s emotional needs. Some who are nearing the end of their lives may become confused, anxious, or even depressed. These feelings should never be discounted as side effects of the dying process but should be treated with the same level of diligence as anyone else experiencing such feelings. 

Seeking Assistance

While you as a loved one may be able to provide some relief by your presence and communication with the dying person, there may be times where a professional counselor may be necessary. These specialists can help the dying ease their anxieties and even depression. If the assistance of a mental health professional doesn’t prove to be as effective, certain calming medications can be administered. 

The Need to Remain Present

It can be hard to remain close to someone throughout their dying process. Even if someone is dear to you, it can feel too painful to experience with them. This is not uncommon. Even medical professionals have been known to withdraw from dying patients whom they were unable to completely treat. It’s important to remember just how much of a calming influence you can have during their last days. Rubbing their hands or feet, massaging their shoulders, talking with them about good times, or even just being with them are all immensely helpful. Always talk to them and never about them in their presence. Even if the dying person is unconscious, some medical professionals are of the opinion that there is a likelihood that the person can still hear you.

If you would like to know more about the palliative and hospice care professionals in Tulsa, OK, you’re invited to learn more about and connect with Cura HPC. 

Learn more about and connect with Cura HPC Hospice and Palliative Care today.

Why do the dying lose their appetite? 

The digestive process can be fairly taxing on the body. The process of breaking down foods or even processing nutrients require a level of energy that the dying person may just not have. One way even the healthy may have experienced this is growing nauseous or even vomiting following an intense physical workout. During an exhaustive workout, the body reallocates resources such as blood and energy to the muscle groups and organs that require it most. This leaves the digestive system with limited energy, thus frequently inducing nausea or vomiting because it is unable to process the food at the moment. A dying person’s body is reallocating similarly limited energy supplies to keep the essential systems of the body working. Because of this, their bodies lack the strength to digest food, thus making the presence of that food or fluid in their systems uncomfortable or even intolerable. 

Do people ultimately die of starvation? 

It may seem like a loved one towards the end of life who has not eaten perhaps in days or even over a week is essentially dying of starvation. This is not the case. The person will eventually pass away due to their illness. It is important to remember that it's not they have simply given up on life and chosen not to eat or drink, but they simply can’t and often do not want to. 

Isn’t it painful not to eat or drink while dying? 

Most of us can hardly imagine going more than a day without eating. The dying, however, typically do not experience discomfort associated with not eating or even dehydration besides possibly a dry mouth. Once dehydrated to a certain degree, the brain frequently releases endorphins that block many pain receptors — a kind of built-in pain-killer system. These endorphins can even induce a euphoric feeling. Artificial nutrition, on the other hand, can induce a form of false hope for the body, allowing it to continue to fight to stay alive — a painful, hopeless fight that typically only prolongs the dying process. 

If you would like more information about hospice or palliative care in the Tulsa area, you’re invited to learn more about and reach out to the caring professionals at Cura HPC. 

The purpose of morphine and other painkillers throughout the dying process may seem fairly clear — to relieve pain. While this is true, morphine and other related opiates (such as codeine, hydromorphone, or fentanyl), have another purpose: to decrease the shortness of breath among the dying. Also known as dyspnea, short or labored breathing is a common experience among those in the dying process. While not necessarily painful, symptoms of dyspnea are uncomfortable and can greatly induce feelings of distress or anxiety. As somewhat of a catch 22, the anxiety surrounding dyspnea can exacerbate the symptoms and make breathing even more difficult. In order to provide relief from these symptoms, opiates such as morphine may be used to help alleviate both anxieties as well as the shortness of the breath. 

Can Morphine Speed Up Dying? 

Some families of the dying or even the dying themselves may have some reservations against using morphine and other painkillers to decrease breathlessness. There is an erroneous idea that morphine hastens the dying process. Part of this misconception is from experiences where death was immediately preceded by a dose of morphine. This is an important time to remember that correlation does not imply causation. The doses of morphine given to the dying are of relatively low and do not directly hasten death. Doses are given in relation to the person’s breathing needs and levels of discomfort. The purpose of hospice or palliative care is not to bring about death, but to alleviate as much pain and discomfort as possible from the dying process. For this, morphine is often a useful tool.

If you would like to speak with a hospice or palliative care specialist, the professionals from Tulsa’s Cura HPC are here to help.

Learn more about hospice and palliative care from Cura HPC today.